For firefighters, foundry workers and other workers whose occupations expose them to extreme heat and fire, safety is a paramount concern. Working in and around environments wherein one is exposed to extreme heat and fire continually subjects workers to risks of being seriously burned or overcome by heat exposure, which can cause heart attacks, strokes, dehydration and other injuries that very well can be fatal. Accordingly, it is a necessity that the clothing of such firefighters, foundry workers and similar personnel provide a high degree of heat and fire resistance protection to protect such workers against the hazards of their work environments.
In attempting to provide maximum protection against heat and fire for firefighters, etc., the emphasis in the prior art has been on using thermal and/or flame resistant fabrics to form protective garments such as firefighter's turnout coats, pants, etc. The flame resistant fabrics used for such garments typically are formed of woven inherently flame resistant yarns and are thick, heavy and stiff and are assembled in multiple layers to form the garments. The more layers of fabric used, the better the protection, but the weight and stiffness of the garment also correspondingly increases. Thus, the garments formed therefrom generally are heavy, bulky and somewhat inflexible.
The weight of flame resistant garments contributes to the stress to which the wearers are subjected, as the heavier the garment the more exertion that is required from the wearer to move and work in the garment. In general, therefore, the makers of prior art flame resistant garments have tried to strike a balance between providing as high a degree of flame resistance protection as possible while limiting the weight of such a garment so that a worker could be adequately mobile under his or her extremely stressful work conditions.
Further, while such conventional flame resistant fabrics generally have been adequate for protecting workers against exposure to fire and extreme heat, the stiffness and general inflexibility of such fabrics tends to cause another significant problem which is the restriction of freedom of movement of a worker while wearing garments made from such fabrics. By restricting the freedom of movement of the wearer, further stress is placed upon and greater exertion is required from the wearer in order to move and work in the protective garments. This increased exertion further increases the risks of the worker suffering heart attacks, strokes, heat exhaustion, etc.
Attempts have been made in the prior art to develop garments, for example firefighter's turnout coats, that protect against exposure to extreme heat and fire, but that are flexible so as to enable greater freedom of movement to the wearer. Such prior art garments, however, have been limited to use of conventional, heavy, somewhat inflexible flame resistant fabrics, with portions of the garments being formed with lighter, less flame and thermally resistant materials or formed as oversized pockets or bellows so as to make the garments more flexible. Such flexibility, however generally has been limited to the joints of the garments and not across the garments as a whole. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,922,552 discloses a firefighters' garment formed from layers of a thick, flame resistant fabric in which an outer layer of the protective flame resistant material has portions cut-away therefrom, and replaced with a layer of a lighter material having a significantly less degree of flame resistance and protective properties, but which has greater flexibility and less bulk. The problem with such a garment is that the flexibility of the garment is limited to specific portions of the garment and some flame resistance protection is sacrificed to achieve this enhanced flexibility. The cutaway portions of the garment generally are formed only in a few selected areas, specifically at the joints such as an elbow joint or underarm, rather than making the entire garment much more flexible. Additionally, a reduction of thermal or flame resistance properties at the selected areas leaves those areas more vulnerable to fire and extreme heat.
Alternatively, U.S. Pat. No. 5,031,242 shows a firefighter's turnout coat and pants wherein the elbow joints and knee joints are formed to include expandable pockets or bellows to enable the joints to flex and move. These bellows, however, are formed by cutting the sleeves and pant legs and then applying elliptical patches in the areas of the cuts in the pants and legs. Thermal and flame resistance protection is not sacrificed, but only limited flexibility, and thus only limited freedom of movement, can be achieved.
Accordingly it can be seen that a need exists for stretchable, lighter weight flame resistant fabrics and garments made from the fabrics, such as firefighters' turnout coats and pants, etc. that provide optimal thermal and flame resistance protection and that have an inherent stretchability and flexibility to provide greater flexibility to the garments and greater mobility and durability to the wearer of the garment without sacrificing the thermal or flame resistance capabilities of the garment.